Networked information systems such as HIS (Hospital Information Systems) provide a useful measure of effective information management for medical data for patients admitted to hospitals or receiving outpatient care. This patient information can include textual data such as manually or automatically entered information regarding the patient. Textual data can be readily stored and accessed using networked computer systems that serve a multitude of functions from billing to patient records maintenance. However, patient information can also include medical images such as Computer Tomography images, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Images, images obtained during various procedures. The wide variety of devices that are capable of obtaining patient related medical images ensures that such images are captured using different equipment, media and methods. Further, a wide variety of different exposure, processing and development techniques are used in forming hardcopy medical images. Such hardcopy medical images, therefore can have a wide range of image densities, color qualities and an media properties that are best observed under lighting conditions that complement such characteristics and properties.
Even though many types of images are obtained and stored digitally, experienced radiologists and other medical professionals often prefer to record the digital medical images in a hardcopy form. In part, this is done because despite the many advances in digital imaging technologies, many medical facilities continue to rely upon hardcopy paper files and folders as the ultimate repository of medical information for each patient. Such a hard copy repository provides an inherent level of security and reliability. However, there remains a recognized need for more efficient ways of maintaining and managing hardcopy medical images, and other medical records for associating these images and records with the complete set of patient data some portions of which may be only available in electronic form at certain points in time. It is vital for effective patient care that the correct medical images needed to diagnose and treat a patient's condition be obtained, that the images are positively identified so that there is minimal chance of confusion due to mismatched images, and that medical images be correlated with other medical records about the patient. It is also important that patient privacy be properly maintained, with checks on authorization and security that help to ensure privacy and help to obtain the proper medical care, without jeopardizing quality and timeliness.
An important tool in observing medical images is the conventional light box. This device has a display platform that projects a generally uniform light pattern in a manner that passes through X-ray and other medical images in order to facilitate observation of these images. These images, printed on film, show the appropriate detail with the sufficient backlight illumination. However, the conventional light box provides only one kind of light for viewing such films. The light does not adapt to the characteristics of the image being viewed using the light box, or the shape of the image being viewed using the light box.
However, there can be a need to view both hardcopy images in concert with digital images of and or textual data patient data, and solutions have been proposed for a hybrid light box for conventional film and for digital data and images. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,516 entitled “Integrated Film and Filmless Image Display System” to Leiper discloses a viewing workstation that allows a medical professional to access and view an X-ray image from a roll of images. Then, from a bar code on the X-ray, a link is provided to electronically stored images for the same patient. These images are then displayed on a display monitor.
Related solutions include U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,216 entitled “Viewing Apparatus and Work Station” to Inbar et al., which also discloses a backlight apparatus having an auxiliary display for electronic data. U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,373 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Displaying Images” to Rego discloses sensing a bar code or other indicia on a film image for obtaining an electronic image, including use of a touch-sensitive display surface for displayed films.
While the systems that Leiper '516, Inbar et al. '216, and Rego '373 disclose provide the capability for viewing both film and electronic data and images, there is substantial room for improvement with respect to image management, access security and log maintenance, and user interaction. For example, the Leiper '516 and Rego '373 disclosures describe sensing a bar code on a medical record and obtaining the electronic image data that corresponds to an image on film. The bar code thus provides a read-only “pointer” to the larger database. Further, these systems typically address primarily the need to present only one image to a user using the light box. However, it will be appreciated that, in practice, much useful diagnostic information can be obtained by comparing one medical image against another medical image, by examining a medical image in context with comments, information, and notes made by other professionals, and in context with other patient related information. These needs are largely unaddressed in the art.
Thus there are numerous additional opportunities for improvement of diagnosis and treatment using a viewing device as part of a larger medical imaging system and it can be seen that there is a need for a viewing solution that enables viewing of both film and digital images and other information in a user-friendly manner and cooperates with other data processing and storage systems to provide the full body of available patient data to an attending diagnostician.